What is Vedanta

How do I find my true self?

The knowledge of my true self is the solution to my fundamental search for everlasting fulfilment. However, the reality about myself is inaccessible through the usual methods of perception and inference. Perception, such as seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting, can only give me knowledge of objects in the world. And, inference and deductive reasoning only enhance my understanding of these objects. For example, my perception, through sight, reports a flat earth. And using inference, I am able to conclude that the earth is spherical. Through these methods, we can only learn about objects. But we can never come to know the nature of the knower, which is the subject.

Kena Upanishad I, 3
The eye does not go there, nor speech, nor mind.
न तत्र चक्षुर्गच्छति न वाग्गच्छति नो मनः॥

Mundaka Upanishad III, 1, 8
It is not comprehended through the eye.
न चक्षुषा गृह्यते नापि वाचा नान्यैर्देवैस्तपसा कर्मणा वा।

Sankara’s commentary on Brhadaranyaka Upanishad II,4,14
As fire does not burn itself, so the self does not know itself, and the knower can have no knowledge of a thing that is not its object. Therefore, through what instrument should one know the knower because of which this universe is known and who else should know it?
न च अग्नेः इव आत्मा आत्मनः विषयो न च अविषये ज्ञातुः ज्ञानमुपपद्यते तस्माद् येनेदं सर्वं विजानाति तं विज्ञातारं केन करणेन को वाऽन्यो विजानीयात्॥

How then can I have knowledge about myself, the knower?

Words of Vedanta, like a mirror, make me see the nature of myself by looking into their meaning.
Any valid means of knowledge must reveal things that cannot be known through other means of knowledge. For example, what the eyes can reveal, the ears have no access to. Second, what it says must also not be contradicted by any other means of knowledge Vedanta is a valid means of knowledge because it meets both these criteria: What is says can neither be arrived at by perception and inference, nor can it be contradicted by perception and inference.

Brhadaranyaka Upanishad III,9,26
I ask you to teach me about that being who is known by the Upanishads alone.
तं त्वोपनिषदं पुरुषं पृच्छामि।

Katha Upanishad I, 2,15
I will tell you in brief about that ultimate end which all Vedas reveal (with one voice).
सर्वे वेदा यत्पदमामनन्ति…यद्वदन्ति…ब्रवीमि।

Naishkarma Siddhi 3, 35-38 – Suresvara
The reason for disregarding a means of knowledge must be that it establishes what is known through another means of knowledge, or that it establishes what is opposed to another means of knowledge, or that it establishes what is doubtful, or that it does not establish anything at all.
न चानादरे कारणमस्ति। यस्मात्सर्वत्रैवानादरनिमित्तं प्रमाणस्य प्रमाणान्तरप्रतिपन्नप्रतिपादनं वा विपरीतप्रतिपादनं वा संशयितप्रतिपादनं वा न वा प्रतिपादनमितिरूरून चैतेषामन्यतमदपि कारणमस्ति।

What are the texts of Vedanta?

The word Vedanta means, ‘that which is located at the end of the Vedas’. The Vedas are the most ancient body of knowledge available to humanity. The Upanishads, located at the end of the Vedas, are the main source of Vedanta literature. They reveal the true nature of the individual, the world, and the cause of the universe being one. This is commonly known as the vision of non-duality.

The Upanishads

The word Upanishad indicates its subject matter: The one that gives you the well ascertained knowledge of the self (I am), which destroys ignorance of the self, gives freedom from sense of smallness and inadequacy, and loosens emotional knots and confusions.

Introductory commentary of Katha Upanishad – Sankara
‘The word Upanishad is derived by adding upa (near) and ni (with certainty) as prefixes and kvip as a suffix to the root sad meaning to split up(destroy), go (reach, attain) or loosen’.
सदेर्धातोर्विशरन्णगत्यवसादनार्थस्योपनिपूर्वस्य क्विप्प्रत्ययान्तस्य रूपमुपनिषद् इति।
Hence the meaning is : Upanishad is this knowledge which loosens, disintegrates or destroys (sad) completely the cause of the life of becoming (ignorance) by giving a clear and certain (ni) knowledge of that, which is the nearest to us (upa), oneself. Positively, it enables one to ‘reach’ (sad) Brahman, the limitless, which is one’s true nature.

There are 10 main Upanishads becasue Adi Sankaracharya wrote a commentary on them. These are: Isha, Kena, Mundaka, Taittriya, Mandukya, Prasna, Katha, Chandogya, Aitareya and Brhadaranyaka. Sankara’s commentaries enable us to decipher the esoteric meanings in the original texts and make the teachings more clear and accessible.

The Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita is the central portion of a well-known epic, the Mahabharata. In addition to unfolding the reality, the Gita highlights the human predicament and analyses in length the role of values and ethics, action, meditation, and devotion as means to gain the maturity necessary to understand the vision of Vedanta.

Introduction to the commentary on Bhagavad Gita – Sankara
This scripture called the Gita is in the form of the essence of the meanings of all the words of the Vedas.
ततिदं गीताशास्त्रं समस्त-वेदार्थ-सार-सङ्ग्रहभूतं ।

The Brahma Sutras

The Brahma Sutras authored by Vyasa in form of aphorisms or sutras, is an analytical text studied after the study of the Upanishads. Brahma Sutras not only analytically expose the vision of all the Upanishads but also defend its position by refuting the views of the prominent schools of philosophy existing at those times namely Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisesika, and some schools of Buddhism.

Introduction to Brahma Sutras – Sankara
It is for the removal of this (erroneous knowledge) cause of what is unwanted, for the attainment of the oneness of the self that the inquiry into all the sentences of Vedanta is commenced. That all the Vedanta sentences have this purport, we intend to show in this Brahma-Sutras.
अस्यानर्थहेतोः प्रहाणाय आत्मैकत्वविद्याप्रतिपत्तये सर्वे वेदान्ता आरभ्यन्ते। यथा चायमर्थः सर्वेषां वेदान्तानाम् तथा वयमस्यां शारीरकमीमांसायां प्रदर्शयिष्यामः।

The knowledge is profound, and shifts the paradigm of who you are. Therefore you need guidance from a teacher to navigate through these texts.

So, what is the role of a teacher?

What is the role of the teacher?

The words used in common language are inherently incapable of revealing the ultimate reality that has no form, no colour, is not connected to anything in the empirical world or is not an object of any action

How is this limitation overcome?

The teacher knows how to retain the core sense of the word, take out the usual connotation, and unlock their intended or implied meaning. This way, by implication, the teacher uses the known words to convey the absolute.

Sankara’s commentary on Bhagavad Gita XIII,12
Because every word used for expressing an object, when it is heard by listeners, makes them understand its meaning through its connection with some group, action and quality, and its dependence on a comprehension of a certain mode of relation. Not in any other way, because it is not objectified. For example, a cow or a horse (is comprehended) because it is a group; cooking or reading, because it is an action; white or black because it is a quality; a rich person or an owner of cows because it is a relation.
सर्वो हि शब्दः अर्थप्रकाशनाय प्रयुक्तः श्रूयमाणः च श्रोत्रभिः जातिक्रियागुणसम्बन्धद्वारेण सक्डेतग्रहणसव्यपेक्षः अर्थं प्रत्याययति। न
अन्यथा अदृष्टत्वात्। तद् यथा गौः अश्व इति वा जातितः पचति पठति इति वा क्रियातः शुक्लः कृष्ण इति वा गुणतः धनी गौमान् इति वा
सम्बन्धतः।

Sankara’s commentary on Bhagavad Gita XIII,12
But Brahman does not belong to any group. …Neither does it have any quality with the help of which it could be expressed by qualifying words, because its is free from qualities; nor can it be expressed by a word implying action, because it is free from action…; nor has it any relation since it is one non-dual, it is not an object of senses and it is the self.
न तु ब्रह्म जातिमद् अतो न सदादिशब्दवाच्यं न अपि गुणवद् येन गुणशब्देन उच्येत निर्गुनत्वाद् न अपि क्रियाशब्दवाच्यं निष्क्रियत्वात्।… न च सम्बन्धि एकत्वाद् अद्वयत्वाद् अविषयत्वाद् आत्मत्वात् च न केनचित् शब्देन उच्यते इति युक्तम्।

There are also times that sentences seem to contradict each other and sometimes sentences are cryptic and often in the form of paradoxes.

The teacher knows exactly what the intention of a given text is, and its specific purpose. With this knowledge, the teacher is able to resolve contradictions and give clear meaning to the cryptic sentences.

Mundaka Upanishad II, 2, 2
That self that is shining is smaller than the smallest; and all the worlds and their indwellers have their being in it.
यदचिर्मद्यदणुभोऽणु च यस्मिँल्लोका निहिता लोकिनश्च।

Isa Upanishad 5
That moves, that does not move; That is far off, That is very near; That is inside all and That is outside all.
तदेजति तन्नैजति तद्दूरे तद्वन्तिके। तदन्तरस्य सर्वस्य तदु सर्वस्य बाह्यतः॥

The words of Vedanta give direct knowledge of I. If this is not understood clearly, the study might turn into a scholarly pursuit of philosophy. Or it may prompt the student to start believing that words of Vedanta give theoretical knowledge and some practices, such as meditation, would lead to discovery of the nature of reality.

The teacher makes clear to the student that Vedanta is not speaking about a concept or an abstract reality, an object away from me. Vedanta is talking about the true nature of myself, the self-evident me, always available as ‘I am’. Therefore, once the ignorance is removed, knowledge will be direct.

Chandogya Upanishad VI,8,7
That is the reality, that is the self, you are that, O Svetaketu.
तत्सत्यँ स आत्मा तत्त्वमसि श्वेतकेतो।

Mundaka Upanishad II,2,1
Brahman is self-shining, very near (not away) and always manifest in the mind.
आविः संनिहितं गुहाचरन्नाम ।

In addition to understanding the technical intricacies, this knowledge requires a certain emotional maturity for which the student needs a role model. The teacher who has evolved into a mature, compassionate and objective person is able to become a role model and guide the student in their overall development.

Sankara – Prose part of Upadesasahasri.
The teacher is one who can see an issue from both sides, who can grasp what is said and is has memory. He is tranquil, self-controlled, compassionate and helpful, etc. He is one who has received the traditional teaching.
आचार्याश्चोहापोहग्रहणधारणशमदमदयानुग्रहादिसम्पन्नो लब्धागमो

How do I know if Vedanta the right pursuit ?

The discipline that systematically enables us to look into ourselves is Psychology. Psychology studies the mind and its thoughts, draws data from perception, and uses different forms of reasoning to build its theories and therapies.

However, Vedanta says the mind and its thoughts are objects of awareness, and not the true self. The fact that I can observe the coming and going of thoughts, and I remain, implies that I am distinct from my thoughts. Vedanta reveals that I, the subject, am already the complete being, and shows this reality to me through a sophisticated methodology which logically examines each contention and dismisses doubts through reasoning.

The study of Vedanta is one pursuit that leads me to discover that I am already free from all forms of limitation. Behind all my pursuits, what I am implicitly seeking is freedom from limitation and I incorrectly seek this freedom through various pursuits of security and pleasure and therefore I am never able to find it.

Let us suppose that what Vedanta claims, ‘you are already limitless’ is not true and you are limited. If this were so, any practice that a limited being undertakes, putting limited effort, gaining objects that are limited in time and space, cannot achieve freedom from limitation.

It is not logical to expect a limited person with limited objects to produce a limitless result.

Since all objects are within time and space, they are limited. The only possible solution to my freedom is that I am already limitless.

Vedanta does not claim that it has the solution to your problem of smallness and lack. Vedanta says that there is no real problem. You are already the fullness that you are seeking.

Does Vedanta give theoretical knowledge to be realized by personal experience ?

There is a contention by some that one’s personal experience alone has the final word. A powerful and extraordinary experience is a necessity to shake off our notions about reality. Without it, our understanding of Vedanta will remain only theoretical or intellectual.

The words of Vedanta are not theoretical, but give direct knowledge of the self.

No experience is required to validate it. In fact, no experience is conclusive, it requires the backing of a valid knowledge to understand it correctly. For example, everybody has an experience of the sun rising; while this experience is real, the conclusion based on this experience that the sun rises in eastern sky and sets in the west is false. It can only be corrected by the knowledge that the sun does not move but the earth does. Even after knowing that the sun is stationary, you will still experience it as rising in the eastern sky. The experience does not change, the knowledge brings you to the correct conclusion.

Similarly, Vedanta reveals that consciousness is the invariable content of all experiences, including the extraordinary experience. In reality, none of the activities of seeing, talking, reading, speaking is possible without the presence of consciousness. Therefore, we do not need one more experience to understand our reality as consciousness, which is the constant in every changing experience.

Any wrong notions about our nature as being limited mind and body need not be corrected by an intense experience to shake them off, but by examining our conclusions, logically refuting them, and discovering our true nature as consciousness.

Is there any conflict between Religion and Vedanta ?

Most of the religions involve belief in a higher being, prescribe to a set of principles to be followed, and end with going to heaven or gaining enlightenment as a final goal.

The commitment of Vedanta is to discovering your true nature here and now, and preparing yourself for this knowledge through paying attention to personal growth. This involves making responsible decisions, developing resilience to changing situations in life, working towards a healthy self-image, investing in emotional maturity, developing values, etc.

To study Vedanta, you don’t need to belong to any particular religion, nor do you have to give up your religion, as every religious discipline can help towards your personal development.

What are some additional readings ?

Click on the following links to download a pdf-file for further reading.